Basketball: UCLA game thread

FINAL SCORE: Cal 76, UCLA 72. Gutierrez made two more FTs with seven-10ths of a second left, finishing with a career-high 34 points. Fans on the court. And all Jorge Gutierrez probably wants is a place to sit down. Cal improves to 14-13, 7-8 and tied for sixth place with Washington State. UCLA is 19-8, 10-4, two full games back of first-place Arizona.

0:14.1 OT: Cal leads 74-70 after a 3-pointer from the right corner by Brandon Smith off a pass by . . . Gutierrez. Gutierrez drove to the lane, drew most of the UCLA defense, then dished to Smith, who was all by himself. Swished it. Cal timeout.

0:43.6 OT: Cal leads 71-70. Gutierrez made the first — he has 32 points — and missed the second FT, but Kamp rebounded and Sanders-Frison scored a putback when Gutierrez missed on a drive. Nelson just scored for UCLA and Ben Howland called timeout. Sanders-Frison has 12 for Cal, Kamp and Crabbe each have eight. Lee has 19 for UCLA and Honeycutt has 14. Cal ball.

1:19 1st OT: The score is tied at 68-all, but Gutierrez is shooting two after drawing Joshua Smith’s fifth foul. Gutierrez has six of Cal’s eight points in the overtime and a career-high 31 for the game.

END OF REGULATION: Cal 60, UCLA 60. Malcolm Lee hit a fadeaway 3-pointer over Crabbe. The ball hit the front rim, bounced up and went in as the horn sounded. Overtime. Bears are 1-1 in extra time — beat WSU, lost to Arizona in 3 OTs.

0:6.6 2nd H:After UCLA’s timeout, Montgomery just called one. Will Cal foul to prevent UCLA from getting off a 3-pointer — the only thing that can extend this game? Or will the Bears play it tight and defend only the 3? My guess: No foul.

0:6.6 2nd H: Cal leads 60-57 after four free throws by Gutierrez, two each on the past two possessions. He has 25 points. He made two with 22.6 seconds left for the lead. Then Nelson drove at MSF who took the ball from him before Nelson could release the shot. MSF got the ball to Gutierrez, who was fouled again and made both. UCLA ball.

0:35.3 2nd H: Gutierrez missed an open 3-pointer and Joshua Smith rebounded for UCLA. Bruins called timeout. There are 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

1:08 2nd H: Cal has the ball and calls timeout after two FTs by Reeves Nelson gave the Bruins a 57-56 lead. Fifth lead change since 3:51. Cal has its starting lineup on the floor. UCLA has four starters plus Joshua Smith.

1:37 2nd H: Four lead changes in the past 2 minutes and Cal leads 56-55 after a hook shot by Kamp. Gutierrez has 21 points after a steal and fastbreak layup, but UCLA answered with a reverse layup by Nelson. Another Cal game right down to the finish. They have lost five in the Pac-10 by four points or fewer. What now?

3:28 2nd H: UCLA leads 53-52 after a 3-pointer by Honeycutt, who appeared to travel moments earlier. Sanders-Frison is out with his fourth foul. Joshua Smith still on the floor for UCLA with four PFs. UCLA is 5 for 5 from the 3-point line this half, three of them by Honeycutt. Cal ball.

7:45 2nd H: Solomon made one of two — Cal leads by 1. Bears are 8 for 14 FTs. Kamp back in for Solomon.

7:45 2nd H: All tied up after a 3-pointer by Brendan Lane. Solomon, who is playing pretty well, just drew a foul and will shoot two. He’s in the game right now for Kamp, who is having a rough game (1 for 7, 2 pts). Joshua Smith going back in for the Bruins. MSF’s hand seems OK.

8:52 2nd H: Cal leads 46-43. Gutierrez has 19 points and is playing his brains out, as usual. Cal back in a zone because UCLA was beating them off the dribble. Once the Bruins got smart and stopped shooting from the perimeter, their superior quickness caused Cal problems at point of attack. Joshua Smith is on the bench with four fouls.

11:36 2nd H: The Bruins are coming. Cal leads 41-37 and Crabbe will shoot 2 FTs. But UCLA has outscored the Bears 17-8 since Cal had its biggest lead of the game, 33-20. The Bruins are running their offense much more crisply, attacking and not relying strictly on the 3-pointer. They’re also rebounding better, with three offensive boards lready in the half. Sanders-Frison apparently did something to his hand and is coming out for Solomon.

15:51 2nd H: Honeycutt just hit another 3-pointer over Kamp, pulling UCLA within 35-28. But Joshua Smith picked up his third foul and will come out. (No, he actually stayed in). Nelson is coming back — also with three fouls. Sanders-Frison will shoot two FTs after the timeout. Will call switch matchups on defense?

16:50 2nd H: Cal leads 35-25. UCLA is playing three guards, which is forcing Cal to defend Honeycutt with Kamp — could be a problem. Honeycutt hit a 3-pointer because Kamp seemed unwilling to close him out. Gutierrez has 15 points. Nelson has three fouls for the Bruins.

HALFTIME SCORE: Cal 29, UCLA 18: Gutierrez scored the final two baskets of the half, on a putback of a missed 3-pointer by Crabbe, then a breakaway layup off a UCLA turnover and pass from Brandon Smith. Cal had gone six posessions without scoring, allowing UCLA to trim a 25-13 deficit to 25-18 after Honeycutt hit the Bruins’ first 3-pointer (after nine misses). Gutierrez has 11 points for Cal — the only player on either team in double figures. Cal is shooting 14 for 33 (42.4 percent), including 1 for 3 from deep. UCLA is at 29.2 percent (7 for 24), thanks to 1 for 12 from the 3-point arc. UCLA also has 10 turnovers, just seven for Cal, but a few of them were sloppy mistakes that cost the Bears good scoring opportunities.

3:42 1st H: Bears are switching defenses now, but still lead 25-15. Crabbe has scored Cal’s last two baskets. Malcolm Lee has six points for UCLA, which is shooting 28.6 percent, including 0 for 9 from 3-point. Cal is at 44.4 percent, and 1 for 2 from deep.

7:26 1st H: Cal continues to be aggressive and leads 21-11. Bears shooting 10 for 24, UCLA 5 for 15. Gutierrez has seven points, including the game’s only 3-pointer. Brandon Smith is the leading rebounder for either team with four. Bears have a 15-9 edge on the boards. Big crowd, loud crowd. Bears giving them something to shout about.

11:31 1st H: Cal lead is 12-4. Man to man defense working well — UCLA shooting 2 for 10 with six turnovers. Sanders-Frison has six points for the Bears, who are shooting 6 for 14. UCLA is 0-3 for from deep, Cal has not tried one. Crabbe has three rebounds but missed his only shot attempt. Cal has just one team foul so far.

14:56 1st H: Cal leads 8-4. Sanders-Frison has four points including a nice hook shot over big Joshua Smith. The Bruins are shooting 2 for 7 with three turnovers. Cal is 4 for 9 with two turnovers. The Bears, by the way, have played man-to-man defense the entire game so far. So far so good.

16:17 1st H: Cal leads 6-2. UCLA shooting 1 for 6 from the field with two turnovers. Cal shooting 3 for 6. Joshua Smith already in the game for the Bruins.

WELCOME: Back at Haas Pavilion for the second-to-last scheduled home game of the season. (I use the word “scheduled” because of the possiblity the Bears could play an NIT game here. But only if they figure out a way to win a few more games). Will have starting lineups in a few minutes, but can tell you Allen Crabbe is warming up with the team and every indication is he will play.

so many close ones this year. i think we have a decent shot at winning the final 3. if we win both in oregon, and stay healthy, which may require a bit of luck, i think we handle the furd no problem. that would give us 17 wins and a 4 game winning streak heading into the pac10, following a brief losing streak that consisted of a tripleOT loss to the conference champ, a losses to an undefeated (at home) UW team on the road, plus wsu and u$c without arguably our most productive offensive player. put it all together with our strength of schedule and the potential for 2 wins in the pac10 tourney, and we’re sitting at 19 wins and a hell of a resume under the circumstances. unfortunately, even if all of that happened, i think we’d still get snubbed. obviously none of this matter if we lose any of our next 5 games, because i think it will be impossible to win the pac10 tourney. winning 3 games in 3 or 4 days, with our lack of depth. it would be a miracle.

i am so proud of this team’s effort. they are really looking better and better each week. jorge is incredible.

Jorge was a great defensive “thief”, stealing the ball like a magician at crucial times during the game. Wonderful offensive performance. Hustle to the max. His effort is unsurpassed. Go Jorge! Go Bears!

Keep on keeping on. Four blown 3 point leads with less than 5 seconds remaining in a month, each coming out of a TO, is not a matter of chance. Tonight’s was very painful for me.

Monty has always been a “play it out” guy, which you can believe in or not. Regardless, that strategy works better in some situations rather than others. Monty seemed to panic, IMO, because of the previous blown leads, and called a TO when he should not have in order to change his style.

I mean, if you are a “play it out” coach, the other team just failed on their last trip down the court, AND they don’t have any time outs, WHY GIVE THEM THE CHANCE TO REGROUP? It was the perfect time to go with the strategy Monty prefers, with UCLA needing to deliver a 3 without the chance to set up a play.

It felt very much like watching a rookie blackjack player in a 50-50 situation (like doubling down on 11 with the dealer showing a 10), you pick you poison to double or not in that situation and stay with it.

Had UCLA called a TO, Howand likely believing Monty would “play it out”, then trying to foul would make more sense. I wasn’t mad that Crabbe didn’t get the foul. Lee made a fall away 3 pointer, c’mon. I was mad that Monty called a TO to give UCLA a chance to organize themselves.

When you are up 3 playing defense with a few seconds left you can only lose the game right then and there 2 ways, and both of them involve a foul: either you foul the guy while he is shooting a three, he makes it and then goes to the line to win it, or, you foul the guy, he makes the first FT, then misses the 2nd and an offensive rebound then three pointer wins it also! No foul and worst that can happen is OT. Just because Az and ucla made the shot a couple of times does not mean that fouling would have been the right move. We beat ucla, az beat us. Had we fouled both times we may have lost both, or won both. No way to know…I think Monty thinks his guys are gonna play tough D down the stretch and that more often than not the others guys will miss. Just because that hasn’t been the case recently, doesn’t mean it isn’t the better decision over the long haul. imho

You are exactly right, IMO. Though, in truth, the odds of a desperation 3 from further back than the nba range is higher than getting an offensive board and put back when there is only 2-3 seconds left, and it requires making the first as well. The player being able to shoot and make a 3 during a foul is a real possibility, especially when the team has not been coached as to the best ways to intentionally foul in that situation.

My issue last night was with the TO more so than the change in strategy Monty decided to go with (check out the post-mortem).

It remains a fair question, however, and TV announcers will discuss this situation, “to foul or not to foul”, nearly every time it comes up.

There is risk and reward with each strategy and I am not sure which would be my proposed solution! Yet, after seemingly 4 times of getting beat by the “play it out” strategy, I think it’s a question Coach must be thinking about, so I am wondering what his answer is.

That’s rude of you to tell me to shut up. Would you grant me the right to raise tough questions if I prefaced them with expressions of joy, approval, and appreciation?

If so, I would like to point out that the difference in the OT period appears to be the fact that we got 1 steal (Gut) and 2 O-boards (Kamp, MSF), while UCLA got only 1 O-board. That meant extra possessions for us, even though they won the tip. Also, they missed the front end of a 1 and 1 FT, while Gut hit 1 of 2 from the line in OT. Hip Hip Jorge, indeed!

I’d also like to point out that MSF played 37 minutes without fouling out, and hit 6 of 7 from the floor, which would all seem to more than make up for the fact that he missed all 4 FT’s! 37 minutes! Wow! (prior high was 36 min vs. ASU, equally impressive considering last year’s foul troubles – major kudos for major improvement!)